Meet The Agricultural Finance Specialists At Rural Asset Finance
MATTHEW SMART
Founder & Director
Matthew manages the day-to-day business flows with both our retail customers and with our wholesale fund managers. Having grown up on his family’s mixed arable and beef farm before attending university, Matthew has been helping farmers buy land and equipment they need for over 25 years – and has built up such long-lasting trusting relationships with his clients that some from those early days are still customers today, and with others he’s now lending to their grandchildren!
Matthew sees his role as leading a team working as hard as possible to provide our customers’ funding efficiently and as promised, to an agreed timetable, while protecting our wholesale funders’ capital and maintaining consistent long-term interest returns for them.
BEN WOOD
Head of Sales
Ben builds relationships with our new and existing clients. Having grown up and worked on his family’s farm, followed by 10 years’ experience in the industry selling agricultural equipment, he understands farmers, how they work and the particular challenges they face.
And it’s no wonder Ben has a keen eye for what our customers need – as well as being passionate about the countryside, he’s also a former member of the Great Britain clay shooting team!
ELAINE HOLMES
Head of Operations
Elaine makes things happen! As our head of operations she supports our credit and sales teams in preparing finance for our customers and helps support and answer queries from our clients and suppliers.
She has worked in the industry and with Matthew for 11 years, and when she’s not hard at work helping our customers, she enjoys reading and baking.
ANDREW YOUNG
Head of Credit
Andrew is responsible for the underwriting of all our finance agreements, from simple asset transactions to complex multi-million pound facilities. Andrew’s 15 years’ experience bring a consistent approach to all our applications, enabling him to review each one on its own merits while taking into account the idiosyncrasies of our agricultural sector.
And it’s not just our finances that Andrew keeps in shape – in his spare time he enjoys exercise and regularly attends a local boot camp!
ANDREW CARRIER
Head of Legal and Compliance
Andrew is our lawyer, managing all the legal processes in our customer transactions. He also helps design processes so we comply with the law and other rules applying to our business, and makes sure we stick to them!
Andrew began his career in the Armed Forces before retraining and qualifying as a solicitor in 2000 before ultimately co-owning a London law firm. He is a keen ultra-runner, having competed in long-distance events in the UK, Europe and Africa – so knows what it’s like to support people in the long run!
MICHELLE DAY
New Business and Operations Manager
Michelle brings a wealth of business and customer service experience to her role. Her previous positions, from back office to customer facing roles, from help desks to managing operations and data analysis for a range of major organisations, gives her the ideal experience to support our new and existing customers as they establish and manage their agreements.
Communication is clearly important to Michelle – she’s just started learning sign language! She also enjoys spending her spare time heading to the beach or a country park her five-year-old springer spaniel – and says her “guilty pleasure” is bingo!
SARAH FLITTON
Chief Financial Officer
Sarah leads our finance function and is responsible for preparing our management and financial accounts, financial planning and analysis, audit, tax, while overseeing the day-to- day running of our lending portfolio and its performance.
Sarah is a qualified accountant and brings a wealth of experience from a variety of sectors. She is also currently studying for an MBA, and when not working she loves combining her two passions – exploring the countryside on horseback!
MARK SELWOOD
Non-Executive Credit and Operations Advisor
Mark’s 40 years in the financial services industry, including working for all the major finance companies and across all business sectors, gives us a wealth of additional experience that we can call on for additional support and guidance when required.
He has been involved in the agriculture sector for the last 15 years and when not working he can often be found on the golf course.
PETER TAYLOR-WHIFFEN
Press & Public Relations Manager
Peter oversees all our public communications and our print and online publicity materials. His 40 years as a journalist includes two decades in Fleet Street writing and editing for nine national newspapers as well as numerous commissioned projects for banks, FTSE100 companies, universities and charities.
When not working, Peter enjoys running and has completed 26 marathons – and is also a former snooker champion!
